D.C. Councilman: Online gaming could raise millions for D.C.

WASHINGTON – Internet gaming could raise $15 million or much more for D.C. coffers, a member of the city council told WTOP on Friday.

“It is already the law” to bet up to $250 per week on online games in D.C., Councilmember Michael A. Brown told Mark Plotkin on Friday’s The Politics Program. “The question is how to implement it.”

The D.C.-regulated alternative to illegal, off-shore sites is different than professional gambling, Brown says, thanks to the weekly limit on bets that deter high rollers.

“Now we can protect it,” he says.

Conservative estimates of revenue from the sites falls between $14 million and $15 million, says Brown. He believes the true amount could be much higher.

Brown also discussed his disappointment in President Barack Obama, who has not yet officially supported D.C. statehood. The council member addressed the WTOP story on Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s accusations that D.C. is soft on rodents.

“There are never any silver bullet solutions to our problems,” Brown says of the pest legislation proposed by his colleague, Councilmember Mary Cheh, Ward-3. He says he understand the perspective from both sides.

Listen to the full audio at right for more on the national election, including a candidate “gone wobbly,” and how one state’s governor is going to play a particularly critical role in the upcoming presidential vote

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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